Shares in Vedanta (LSE: VED) lifted slightly in early trade this morning, following the release of interim results.
For the six months ending 30 September, revenue fell by 17% to $6.2bn, EBITDA decreased by 14% while underlying earnings per share plummeted 70% to 29.3 cents.
However, the market was prepared for negative results, and this update was marginally more positive than was anticipated. Vedanta confirmed record oil and gas production in the six-month period, and highlighted “strong cost performance despite industry-wide inflationary trends”.
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As such, management saw it fit to raise the interim dividend by 5% to 22 cents per share, equating to 13.75 pence per ordinary share should shareholders elect to receive the dividend in UK pounds sterling. This puts Vedanta on a yield of 3.5%, matching the FTSE 100‘s average.
Chairman Anil Agarwal said:
“The successful completion of the Sesa Sterlite merger during this half year is a significant milestone. Operational performance has been particularly strong in our high margin Oil & Gas and Zinc India businesses, with record production achieved at Cairn India. We continue to focus on driving value-accretive growth across our diversified portfolio of Tier-1 assets and this, combined with efficient cost management and our strong position in fast growing emerging markets has positioned us well to sustainably create long term value for our shareholders.”
The share price chart over the last year reads like a mountain range, with three peaks of 20-25% ahead of where it began 12 months ago in-between three troughs where the shares sank to -5% below last November’s price. It currently sits just below where it started.
